Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Results tagged ‘ Jason Donald ’

Miguel Cairo went 1 for 1 with two RBIs in today’s 8-3 victory over the Yankees. He’s hitting .286 this spring.

I think he’s the favorite to win a bench job should the Phillies decide they must have an extra righthanded bat for the bench. I also think he has the edge if the Phillies decide to open the season with 11 pitchers.

“I think he can play all the positions,” Charlie Manuel said. “I think he’s a good utility player. His bat is starting to show up. He’s starting to come on big with his bat. I think that’s a big plus for him.”

Marcus Giles (.182) went 1 for 1.

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The Phillies re-assigned Jason Donald, Dave Borkowski and Jake Woods to Minor League camp. Donald hit .296 in the Grapefruit League, but with Jimmy Rollins returning to camp tomorrow he was about to see a serious cut in playing time. The Phillies like Donald a lot, so they would like to see him play every day at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

We took a look yesterday at the bench situation. I’m really not sure which way it will break, and I’m not sure the Phillies do, either. But I do sense they prefer Jason Donald and John Mayberry Jr. get regular at-bats in the minor leagues than get a couple pinch-hit at-bats a week in the majors, if possible. The last man on Charlie Manuel‘s bench doesn’t get many at-bats (i.e. Michael Bourn, So Taguchi, Alex Gonzalez), and that could impede their progress. So I get the feeling the Phillies will have to decide if they want three lefthanders on their bench (Greg Dobbs, Geoff Jenkins and Matt Stairs) or go with one of the veteran righthanded bats they have in camp (Miguel Cairo, Marcus Giles and Pablo Ozuna).

“I haven’t done a whole lot of it,” Burrell said. “I’m trying to talk to as many guys as I can about that, trying to get the right mind-set. The whole deal is getting comfortable. Spring Training is a good time for that. And I haven’t spoken to [Rays manager] Joe [Maddon] too much about it. But it looks like that’s what I’m going to be doing most of my time. It’s something I’ve got to work on and get comfortable with.”

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The Phillies completed their first full squad workout today. Charlie Manuel said Chase Utley has moved past Pedro Feliz in terms of being ready for Opening Day. Utley is taking fielding practice and taking swings off the practice tee. Feliz is doing neither, but could be throwing in a few days.

The uncertainty surrounding Utley and Feliz means camp should be especially interesting for Eric Bruntlett, Jason Donald, Marcus Giles and Miguel Cairo. Only Bruntlett is guaranteed a spot on the team, but the other three could be needed to fill the void if Utley and/or Feliz aren’t ready to start the season.

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Manuel won’t be at tomorrow’s workout. He’s flying to Colorado to attend the funeral of Giants scout Ted Uhlaender. They played together in the Minnesota Twins organization.

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Mike Schmidt is in camp, and will meet with reporters tomorrow morning.

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The Phillies are being fitting for tuxedo’s tomorrow for a photo shoot Friday with the World Series trophy. The photo will appear in Phillies magazine.

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